Shares to help purchase The Bell at Iden have gone on sale following a public meeting in the village on Thursday 22 January.
The pub has been closed since June 2023 and its purchase from the current owners was announced just before Christmas. The new proposals will see it re-open in 2026.
The share offer runs until 12 February, although the team behind the plans say that may change depending on its success. Each share is priced at £1 with the minimum investment set at £500 and the maximum set at £60,000.
The Bell has been bought for £425,000 with an initial target of £225,000 set for the sale of shares.
You can read more about the share offer here.
The proposals see the purchase of the building’s freehold, which would then be leased to a tenant who would refurbish and reopen The Bell as a “thriving pub serving the village and the wider local area”.
Negotiations are underway with John Rogers, the owner of The Globe in Rye, to refit and run the pub. In December he told Rye News The Bell has huge potential. “Our aim is to make it a real country pub. We want to take advantage of the history and architecture, and make it a lovely inn for locals and visitors.”
There had been fears the pub could have been converted into housing, however a request to change the use of the building was rejected after a large number of objections. Proposals to remove the pub’s listed building status were also turned down.
Image Credits: Hugh Kermode .